Lucrehulk-class Battleship
The Lucrehulk-class Battleship was the primary capital ship of the Trade Federation's Trade Defense Force. Most Lucrehulks were modified from enormous cargo haulers. Upgraded and modified versions would be used by the CIS Navy and the Alliance to Restore the Republic. After Dave Killian's appointment as CEO of Hoersch-Kessel Drive, HKD has started producing a new version of the Lucrehulk-class Battleship, albeit in small numbers. =Characteristics= At over three kilometers in diameter, the enormous vessels resemble flattened disks with a central sphere containing the ship's bridge and reactor assemblies. The disk is broken at the front of the craft, revealing two mammoth docking bays lined with forward docking claws. Housed in the stern of the main disk-shaped body are the main reactors, each connected to one of the three main engines, as well as to secondary engines and each other. The central sphere houses its own reactor/power generator assemblies. Before the Clone Wars, the ship housed quad turbolasers in batteries of three along the equatorial bands. They had limited coverage and made the early battleships vulnerable, forcing them to rely on massive numbers of starfighters. This was, however, rectified with later ships whose armor and shields proved too strong for starfighter firepower, the fact becoming quickly apparent at the Battle of Naboo. Battleships fighting in the Clone Wars had less trouble with weak spots, as they were augmented with gun batteries. =History= When the Trade Federation began creating its military, the Executive Board realized the need for large cruisers to transport their weapons across the galaxy, battleships to defend against starfighter attacks, and flagships for controlling their vast legions of battle droids. Reluctant to spend the credits necessary to construct and purchase a fleet of military vessels, the Trade Federation began modifying its existing Lucrehulk-class freighters into warships. Invasion of Naboo The Trade Federation used a substantial fleet of Lucrehulk-class Battleships to enforce the invasion of Naboo, led by the flagship Saak'ak. The most important vessel in the Trade Federation's blockade was the Droid Control Ship. When the rest of the blockade dispersed after Naboo was successfully occupied, the Neimoidians left the Droid Control Ship in orbit to coordinate their droid forces. The Control Ship was later destroyed by the young Anakin Skywalker, resulting in the deactivation of the Droid Army. After the Invasion of Naboo, the Republic ordered the Trade Federation to disband its military forces. The crafty Trade Federation pretended to comply with this command by apparently disassembling most of its battleships, only to transform their centrispheres into detachable core ships capable of carrying supplies. Later, some of these vessels were used to try to destroy Outbound Flight. Chiss Commander Thrawn destroyed all but one of the Lucrehulks, allowing it to surrender. The Clone Wars Core ships were used during the Battle of Geonosis where they carried legions of battle droids. In retreat, the Core Ships were found to be able to reattach themselves to the outer ring. These vessels saw continued use during the devastating Clone Wars, transporting military equipment and troops to countless worlds, and engaging Republic fleets in combat. During the wars, the Lucrehulk-class received a massive upgrade in terms of firepower, with the addition of hundreds of long guns, quad guns, and heavy guns dotting the surface of both the core ship and the surrounding cargo arms. They, along with the other capital ships of the Confederate Navy, also proudly wore the colors and insignia of the Confederacy. A few dozen participated in the attack on Coruscant towards the end of the war. Legacy During the Imperial Period, some militarized Lucrehulks remained in operation, either fighting on the side of Separatist holdouts or early Rebel Alliance units. One of several Alliance Lucrehulks, the Fortressa served as a starfighter carrier, carrying a complement of hundreds of T-65 X-wing starfighters. In 0 BBY, it participated in an assault on the first Death Star and was destroyed by the battle station's superlaser. =Sources= *Wookieepedia Category:Capital ShipsCategory:BattleshipsCategory:FreightersCategory:Carriers